Chris Mahony, a former New Zealand professional rugby player has helped US police catch the driver who drove into a crowd and killed a woman attending the Charlottesville protests. Courtesy: CNN

August 13th 2017

6 months ago

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Chris Mahoney detailed what happened after a car hit a crowd of people at Charlottesville. Picture: ScreengrabSource:CNN

A FORMER New Zealand professional rugby player has helped US police catch the driver who ploughed into a crowd killing one person as white nationalists clashed with counter protesters in Virginia.

Chris Mahony, an Auckland-born adviser for the World Bank in Washington DC, said he noticed a grey sports car suspiciously stopped a small distance away from a group of people protesting the white supremacists on Saturday in Charlottesville.

“I thought that was a bit strange,” Mr Mahony, 36, told CNN.

“Of course moments later we heard a car going incredibly fast down the road and saw it plough into the crowd.”

A vehicle reverses after driving into a group of protesters in Charlottesville, Va. Picture: Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress via APSource:AP

Mr Mahony, who played rugby for Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup and for Oxford University, said he sprinted after the car to take photos to identify it and also alert police.

He saw a police officer and told him: “That car just ploughed into a whole lot of people”.

The police officer immediately radioed the information to other officers and the driver was arrested.

“He said, ‘We are on it. Quickly take me to where this happened’,” Mr Mahony said.

Mr Mahony said he was not surprised tensions exploded between white nationalist groups, who were protesting the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Army General Robert E Lee from a park in the city, and counter groups.

Mr Mahoney said he was surprised as tensions exploded. Picture: ScreengrabSource:CNN

Some white nationalists waved Confederate and Nazi flags, chanted Nazi slogans and were armed with assault rifles, poles and shields.

Mr Mahony was among the counter demonstrators.

“You had a high level of antagonism,” he said.

“It wasn’t necessarily peaceful.

“You had people literally in military fatigues walking around so that is an incredibly intimidating environment.” He was sickened when he saw the car crash into the crowd.

“When that happened I thought, ‘This is someone deliberately attacking these people because of their beliefs’,” he said.

An Ohio man accused of driving a car into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts.

The Charlottesville Police Department said in a statement that James Alex Fields Jr, 20, also faces three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene.

US President Donald Trump spoke out about the incident shortly after it occurred. Addressing reporters, he said: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.

“It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump. Not Barack Obama. It’s been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives.”

However, critics said his response didn’t go far enough and that he needed to condemn the white supremacist movement specifically.